Exploring app-based affective interactions for people with rheumatoid arthritis

The mental and emotional burden of living with a chronic disease, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), calls for a better understanding of how we can support people in coping through affectively designed healthcare technologies. This paper presents findings from an ongoing research project concerned with redesigning an existing self-tracking app towards better supporting affective dimensions of living with RA. On the basis of an exploratory, intervention-based design study, we present three overall affective needs feeding into three design opportunities for cultivating affective and emotional dimensions in the redesign of the app; 1) creating a digital room for emotional response, 2) offering a space for mindfulness and 3) helping people to own their RA story. Our results emphasize the need for HCI and design researchers to approach the design of healthcare technology holistically, which includes exploring affective interactions that empower people to develop more sustainable coping strategies.